Australia’s approach to child justice and wellbeing under scrutiny

The National Children’s Commissioner for Australia wants major changes to how federal, state and local governments approach the issue of child justice and the well-being of young people caught up in the criminal justice system.

In a report, Anne Hollonds has proposed a series of recommendations which, in her words, will ‘transform’ Australia’s attitude to child justice and help vulnerable children ‘thrive’.

Making child justice and well-being a ‘national priority’ is at the heart of the 24 recommendations, along with ensuring that reform of the country’s child justice systems are based on evidence and basic human rights.

The report, Help way earlier!’: How Australia can transform child justice to improve safety and wellbeing, is based on interviews and consultations with hundreds of child rights experts and stakeholders across Australia. Crucially, it also includes testimonies from over 150 children and young people who have either been or are at risk of being in contact with the police and/or the justice system.

“We all want to live in communities where kids can flourish and where everyone is safe, especially children,” said the commissioner. “But our findings show that our current responses to offending by children are not working, and that our state and territory justice systems alone cannot fix these problems.

We need to turn our attention and our resources to addressing the underlying causes, and to the barriers that stop us taking national action on evidence-based systemic reform.

“In heartbreaking detail, children and young people have told us about the challenges they and their families face, emphasising that they need ‘help way earlier’.

“Like everyone else, children have a right to housing, food, healthcare and education, and to live in safety, but the failures in our health, education and social services systems have created an ‘epidemic’ of unmet needs.

“Our communities will not be safer if we just keep punishing and locking up children who have complex needs caused by poverty, homelessness, disability, health and mental health issues, domestic, family and sexual violence, systemic racism and intergenerational trauma.

The report, she continued, was built on decades of national and international evidence about what actually works to reduce child offending.

Click here for more information, including links to download the full report.